1st National Young Chefs Convention (NYCC), organized by Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA), was held on August 29 and August 30 at Hotel Radisson Blu Plaza in the national Capital and was attended by more than 500 young chefs from across the country. The event focused on imparting practical knowledge to young chefs. The event saw the participation of some of the leading chefs not only from India but also from the overseas markets.
NYCC was inaugurated by their guest of honour Kenko SONE, Minister (Economic and Development), Embassy of Japan, Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC; KB Kachru, Chairman, Emeritus and Principal Advisor, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Inc; Master Chef Hirotoshi Ogawa, Director / Secretary General, All Japan Sushi Association (AJSA) by a lamp lighting ceremony. Other dignitaries included Chef John Sloane, Vice President, World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS); Chef Thomas A Gulger, Continental Director – Africa and Middle East, WACS; representing IFCA were Chef Manjit Singh Gill, President IFCA; Dr Chef Soundararajan Palanippan, General Secretary, IFCA; Chef Vijay Bhaskaran, Vice President, IFCA and Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, President, Young Chefs Association of India.
“The Chefs Community should rediscover the lost flavours of this vast country which has evolved through long history and civilization of over 5,000 years,” said Nakul Anand while addressing the delegates. “The rich diversity in food needs to be exploited to promote India as a culinary tourism destination,” he added. Appreciating the initiative undertaken by IFCA, KB Kachru urged the young chefs to take advantage of the support and guidance they receive from the experienced chefs in the industry to hone their skills for career growth as well as to become entrepreneurs themselves.
Chef Manjit Singh Gill highlighted the objectives of the Young Chefs Association of India saying, “It has been the Federation’s endeavour to nurture talent in the industry.” Theoretical knowledge cannot make a professional chef, knowledge has to be gained through practice, he said. Kenko Sone, Minister (Economic and Development) Embassy of Japan, who was present on the occasion, spoke on the growing footprint of Japanese restaurants across the globe. Citing a survey, Sone said that there are an estimated 89,000 Japanese restaurants outside Japan and it is growing year on year.
Chef John Sloane, a renowned name in industry spoke delved into the subject of food production and its scarcity hitting many parts of the world. His thoughts on how food should be procured and used by the chefs worldwide put a great emphasis on wastage of food across kitchens in the world. By pressing this issue on young minds, he made them aware of optimum usage of food items and how its shortage can render many people hungry which will have a great impact on the works and services of the culinary industry.
Social responsibility for every professional is paramount and for chefs, since they deal with food, it is pertinent to understand the nuances of food production, challenges faced by agriculturists and also the role of each one of them to maintain the equilibrium.